Sonic Heroes

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We take the near-final version for a test drive and return with detailed impressions, new screens and 13 direct-feed movies.

By IGN Staff

In January publisher Sega will release Sonic Heroes, the latest installment in its popular Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The 3D platformer marks the mascot's first wholly original new console endeavor since he made his mark on the now-defunct Dreamcast system. (Yeah, we know that ports of Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 shipped for GCN, but these were merely updated versions of the aged Dreamcast titles.)

Sonic Heroes is fresh. It not only looks meaner and cleaner, crisper and shinier, but it moves faster, too, and it seems to be set in or around many of the colorful green, looping environments that layered the backgrounds in Sonic's classic Sega Genesis titles. Long-time fans of the series will no doubt feel some sense of nostalgia as they zip around these unpredictable 3D courses.

And yet, the gameplay dynamic has considerably changed. Yes, speed is still the biggest player, and it's when Sonic is zipping around the locales with a sound barrier-breaking ferocity that the game is most engaging and entertaining, but Sega has also injected a degree of strategy into the formula -- one that wasn't present in the Dreamcast titles. Of course, we're referring to the introduction of teams. In Heroes, players don't control one character, but three, and each contributes individual strengths that help defeat enemies and obstacles throughout the game.

Players can choose from four different groups including Team Sonic, Team Dark, Team Chaotix and Team Rose. Team Sonic features everyone's favorite hedgehog, whose main abilities lie in speed, along with Tails, who can fly in short bursts and Knuckles, a mean echidna who isn't afraid to use his fists to crash open crates and destroy stone barriers. Team Dark features Shadow, an alternate (darker) version of Sonic, along with the destructive robot E-123 Omega and Rouge the Bat, whose wings help him soar. Next is Team Chaotix, which includes Espio the Chameleon, who can temporarily blend into environments and avoid enemies, Vector the Crocodile's sharp bite and Charmy Bee's flying prowess. Team Rose encapsulates Amy Rose, who zips along with her Piko Hammer, the powerful Big the Cat and Cream the Rabbit, who uses her ears to fly.

While all of the team's feature different characters with seemingly unique abilities, they all seem to share the same attributes in common: one character is fast, another is powerful and the last can fly.

The stages -- which sometimes almost feel like courses -- are separated into two categories: speed and enemy fights/puzzle solving. It's smart to position faster characters like Sonic in the lead during the roller coaster-like track sequences as these revolve around speed. However, players will eventually come to structures too tall to jump and so they will have to switch to one of their flying characters such as Tails or Cream the Rabbit, who can then pick up and hover the other two team members over the hurdle. Meanwhile, some barriers can only be destroyed by the most powerful mascot, which typically means that gamers will have to rotate the order of their party so that the strongest member -- usually characters E-123 Omega and Knuckles -- can wreak havoc.

Players can also execute their character's secondary moves by jumping and then pressing the action button in-air and these also prove very valuable. Sonic can create a mini-tornado that surrounds him and damages enemies. Knuckles can instantly hurl Sonic and Tails in a circular fashion, where they become fireballs and can likewise hurt or eliminate the opposition. And Tails can pick up and throw Sonic or Knuckles at opponents. The hedgehog can also jump and stick to walls, and then leap from side to side to progress over chasms while Knuckles can link his hands with both teammates to form a character pyramid of sorts, which allows all three to hover like parachuters over fan systems. There are more options available to the other characters in the game, all of them just as entertaining.

Heroes moves along at an impressive speed and many of the levels are saturated with twists, corkscrews, spirals and loops, not to mention pinball pads, ramps, jumps and cannons that jettison the characters into the air where they will often bounce into some kind of springy object and fly higher still. In short, it feels more like a classic Sonic title reborn in 3D, and this is for the most part a good thing. The strategic breaks for puzzle solving in levels is less intriguing, in our experience so far, but by no means as poorly integrated as some of the tedious sequences in the Dreamcast-based hedgehog incarnations.

The GameCube version of Heroes -- which incidentally ships on January 5, three weeks before the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions -- runs in progressive scan and Dolby Pro Logic II and we expect that the Sony and Microsoft versions will sport similar technical features. Sonic fans will also be happy to know that this year's game moves at 60 frames per second -- a near-must to retain the frantic sensation of speed that helps make Sonic titles memorable.

We will of course delve further into Sonic Heroes, detailing more about the different teams, as well as the battle mode and mini-games, as we draw ever closer to the game. But in the meantime we've posted 13 revealing new direct-feed videos that show off many never-before-seen areas and scenarios from the anticipated platformer. Click on our media section and download away.